BRONX, N.Y., Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine secured $178 million from the National Institutes of Health in federal fiscal year 2019, marking the largest annual total in the institution's history (excluding supplemental stimulus funding distributed as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). Major grants included those to lead international consortiums to study Ebola and HIV, as well as those focusing on neuroscience, genetics, and improving health among minority groups. 

"Despite an increasingly competitive environment, our researchers have reached new heights this year, clearly demonstrating their leadership and excellence across a wide range of fields," said Gordon F. Tomaselli, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein. "Whether using the latest technology to untangle complex biological puzzles or tailoring care to minority populations to reduce health disparities, our faculty continues to advance scientific knowledge and improve the health of our borough, our country, and our world."

Among the year's notable grants are those in which Einstein faculty lead major, national projects and centers:

• $23 million to study diseases affecting people living with HIV, led by Kathy Anastos, M.D., and Anjali Sharma, M.D., M.S.
• $22 million for an international consortium to develop antibody-based therapies against lethal viruses, led by Kartik Chandran, Ph.D. Other Einstein members of the team include Jonathan Lai, Ph.D., and Johanna Daily, M.D., M.S.

Among the new major grants for investigator-initiated research projects are:

• $8 million to study lower extremity arterial disease (Robert Kaplan, Ph.D.)
• Two grants totaling $4.5 million to study the role of the hypothalamus in obesity and hypertension (Dongsheng Cai, Ph.D.)
• $4.2 million to examine how HIV-related inflammation is worsened by opioid abuse (Joan Berman, Ph.D., Harris Goldstein, M.D.)
• $4.2 million to develop synthetic T cells to attack HIV-infected cells (Harris Goldstein, M.D., Steve Almo, Ph.D.)
• $4 million to investigate the link between sleep patterns and cognitive decline (Carol Derby, Ph.D.)
• $4 million to find genes that may delay aging and prevent or delay Alzheimer's disease (Sofiya Milman, M.D.)
• $3.5 million to identify brain systems that control mobility in patients with multiple sclerosis (Roee Holtzer, Ph.D.)
• 3.5 million to better understand the B-cell response to tuberculosis (John Chan, Ph.D.)
• $3.3 million for a precision medicine approach to treating heart disease in those with HIV (Robert Kaplan, Ph.D.)
• $3.1 million to evaluate a diabetes prevention program tailored to Black and Hispanic men (Earle Chambers, Ph.D., Jeffrey Gonzalez, Ph.D.)

About Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2019-20 academic year, Einstein is home to 724 M.D. students, 158 Ph.D. students, 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 265 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,800 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2019, Einstein received more than $178 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States through Montefiore and an affiliation network involving hospitals and medical centers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and view us on YouTube.

SOURCE Albert Einstein College of Medicine

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